Patterns, dynamics and phase transitions in Ising ferromagnet driven by propagating magnetic field wave

Abstract

The nonequilibrium behaviours of kinetic Ising ferromagnet driven by a propagating magnetic field wave have been studied by Monte Carlo simulation. Two types of propagating magnetic field waves are used here. Namely, the plane wave and the spherical wave. For plane propagating wave passing through the Ising ferromagnet, system undergoes a phase transition from a pinned phase to a propagating phase, as the temperature increases. The transition temperature is found to depend on the amplitude of the propagating magnetic field. A phase boundary is drawn in the plane described by the temperature of the system and amplitude of the propagating field. On the other hand, the nonequilibrium behaviours shown by the Ising ferromagnet driven by spherical magnetic field wave, are different. Here, the system exists in three different dynamical phases. The low temperature pinned phase, the intermediate temperature centrally localised breathing phase and the high temperature extended spreading phase. Here also, the transition temperatures are observed to depend upon the amplitude of the propagating magnetic field wave. The phase boundaries are drawn in the plane represented by temperature of the system and the amplitude of the propagating magnetic field wave. The two boundaries merge at the Onsager value of equilibrium critical temperature in the limit of vanishingly small amplitude of the propagating magnetic field. This article is mainly a review of earlier works and is based on the invited lecture delivered in the conference STATPHYSKOLKATAVIII, held at SNBNCBS, Kolkata, India in December 1-5, 2014. This article is dedicated to Prof. H. Nishimori on the occasion of his 60th birthday.